Reissues of the Year

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Hank Williams THE UNRELEASED RECORDINGS Time Life

It is an unimaginable thrill today: the greatest singer in country music crooning to you over your oatmeal. But in 1951, Hank Williams and his band the Drifting Cowboys were on the radio every morning at 7:15 a.m., touting Mother's Best flour and rolling out an astonishing array of tunes: his own songs, old-time spirituals and covers of Ernest Tubb and Roy Acuff. On this three-CD set, Williams' voice is crisp and virile, and there is a kitchen-table immediacy to the performances, as if he's right there sharing a cup of coffee.

• View List: 2008 Reissues of the Year